


Lights and Shadows

by Mordinette



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Canon Divergence, Drabbles, F/M, Ficlets, Fluff, Humor, Romance, Tumblr Prompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-06
Updated: 2016-03-24
Packaged: 2018-04-30 07:40:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5155700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mordinette/pseuds/Mordinette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of ficlets for tumblr prompts with several characters from the games. Chapter 4: A "What If" scenario for Field Training. Chapter 5: My one and only self-insert, with Garrus as the prize.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Willpower

**Author's Note:**

> Over at tumblr, I reblogged a list of 49 prompts that I thought would be really fun to write. I got one prompt for it, from jediserenity82 (thank you!). So, here's the fic for that prompt, for Thane and FemShep. Since I liked the others a lot, too, I'm going to try to write little ficlets/drabbles for most of them, for a wide range of characters (hopefully). 
> 
> If you're interested in those prompts and would like to poke me with one of them, here they are: http://mordinette.tumblr.com/post/132295275453/send-me-a-number-and-ill-write-a-ficlet
> 
> This first one is sort of AU, since in this fic Thane had a lung transplant and survived Kai Leng's attack.
> 
> Big thanks to Suilven for the speedy beta!

Of all the things Commander Shepard had expected out of this life (which, frankly, wasn't a whole lot), receiving a huge, luxurious apartment as a gift from Admiral David Anderson had definitely not been one of them.

She'd never even thought she would have a home of her own one day; and yet, here she was now, standing in the living room of this incredible place, showing Thane around as though all this really, actually, belonged to her. It was a concept she still couldn't quite wrap her brain around.

"I can't believe we'll get to stay here when we're on the station," she said, waving her arms in a wide circle as she walked over to the wall-to-ceiling windows at the far end of the room. "Just look at this view. Breathtaking, isn't it?"

Thane made a low, humming sound in his throat. "Absolutely beautiful."

There was something in his voice, something rich and thrumming, that made it rather obvious that his comment wasn't really about the panorama beyond the glass. Shepard turned around in reply, eyebrows raised, the corner of her lips quirked up in a smile, ready to make some kind of quip before she would give him a teasing look and go on with the house tour.

He'd been nothing but a silky, smooth ball of temptation ever since he'd been released from Huerta Memorial and joined her on the _Normandy._ Not that she was complaining; to be honest, she did enjoy the stolen glances and the carefully orchestrated "accidental" touches whenever they happened to pass each other in some random part of the ship. Nevertheless, it was high time she started making an effort to rein in those butterflies that got loose in her belly every time she saw him, alive and well and full of healthy energy, and make sure she did whatever job lay ahead of her properly, without any distractions. She was Commander Shepard, for crying out loud, not a swooning teenager; if she couldn't get a handle on her heart whenever he was around, how were they going to survive a mission with him by her side?

Right now, though, her _mission_ , as frivolous as it might have been, was to finish showing him the place she hoped would be their private little refuge whenever they happened to have some time off on the Citadel. Ignoring Thane's advances was not exactly easy, but she was determined to persevere. She would be damned if she surrendered to the temptation of just giving up, and ended up dragging him to the nearest bedroom.

Of course, as usual, it wouldn't have been _Thane_ if he hadn't had a plan of his own. As soon as they were face to face again, she with the cocky smile and he with the scorching fire in his eyes, he stepped forward with the graceful speed of a leopard on a hunt, and before she could even utter a word, he'd braced his hands on the glass on each side of her head.

Shepard didn't bat an eye. Allowing him to lean closer, she waited until his lips almost touched hers before she ducked down beneath his arms and slid out of her entrapment. "And here's the kitchen," she said as she sauntered away, grinning at Thane's soft growl of frustration. "It's huge. Maybe even bigger than the _Normandy's_ mess, don't you think?"

Unsurprisingly, Thane was right behind her before she'd made it past the first cabinet. "I don't know," he said, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I only have eyes for her commander."

Shepard shuddered, tiny hairs standing up on the back of her neck, as he nipped at her earlobe and trailed hot kisses down her shoulder, and she stood frozen and helpless, all but forgetting about her earlier, stubborn resolution when he slowly turned her around and gently pressed his lips against hers.

It took the last remaining shred of her willpower to deny entry to his sweet tongue and break away from his intoxicating kiss, but she managed to pull back and place a finger on his mouth. She could just barely make out the dark green irises in the black pools of his eyes as he stared at her, devouring her lips, her throat, her body, with his gaze, and she let out a raspy sigh, not really sure anymore if she still wanted to keep that promise she'd made to herself.

"Thane," she whispered, breathless and flushed with heat from her cheeks to her toes. "I haven't shown you everything yet. But if you keep looking at me like that, we won't even make it to a bed."

Thane chuckled, and leaned forward to plant a feather-light kiss on her jaw. "That is all right. There are more than enough suitable surfaces in here that we can use. Later, there will be plenty of opportunities to try all the beds, too."

He pulled her close, cupping the back of her head, and pressed his lips against hers once more. This time, she didn't resist; she kissed him back with all the desire and longing those six long months without him had soaked into her soul, and held on tight as he grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up onto the nearest counter.

Her last rational thought, as his hand slid down her front to the zipper of her pants, was a sudden change of plans and a new determination.

Screw it. Screw it all. Self-control could wait. She could always pick up the shattered pieces of her willpower after shore leave.

She hoped.


	2. Fraternization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After one too many drinks, Shepard decides that she's had enough of waiting. She wants to test Garrus's reach and her flexibility _right now._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the kudos and comments! 
> 
> The prompt for this one (from jediserenity82 - thank you!) was: "Are you drunk?" for Shepard and Garrus.
> 
> Big thanks to Suilven for beta reading.

This had to have been one of the most productive days since Garrus had met up with the ghost of his old commander, stopped a rocket with his face, and subsequently awoken aboard the _Normandy SR-2._

Today, they'd destroyed an Eclipse listening outpost from orbit, found an emergency beacon on their way to a refuel station, saved the last quarian survivor of a shipwrecked crew on a hostile planet, and mined enough resources in the system to finally be able to afford those ship upgrades he had been itching to install for the last four weeks.

He'd even managed to squeeze in a few minutes of algorithm checks on his calibrations before it was time to go to bed. And now, bone-tired and unable to concentrate on anything anymore, Garrus was ready to collapse onto his cot and call it a night.

He got as far as pulling off his tunic and chucking it into his laundry bag when the door to the forward battery slid open with a startled hiss and Commander Shepard stormed in.

Wearing only a sleeveless shirt and a pair of short pants, and carrying a bottle of whisky Garrus recognized as the one she'd confiscated from Zaeed as punishment for Zorya in her hand, she stopped abruptly a few feet into the room when her eyes fell on Garrus.

"Garrush Vakarian!" she roared, waving the bottle in the air, sprinkling drops of amber liquid onto the floor. "You gonna shag me or not?"

Garrus's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Fuck _waiting_ ," Shepard declared defiantly, her voice thundering in the confined space. "Fuck disrapshing… disracking… dishtracting the crew. Fuck it." She raised the bottle to her lips, but her hand paused in the air as an amused giggle bubbled up in her throat. "Acshully, no. Fuck _me_."

Garrus took an appraising look at the amount of alcohol still left in the glass. It wasn't much; apparently, she'd been having a lovely time with the contents of that bottle for quite a while.

"Are you drunk?" he asked, not as much to get an answer (since, to him, the reply to his question was quite obvious), but to draw her attention to the fact that maybe she had consumed a bit more of that stuff than she should have.

She crinkled her brows into a frown and pointed a finger at Garrus's chest. "Maybe."

She burst out laughing, seemingly finding herself quite hilarious. Garrus, however, did not quite share her enthusiasm. Sure, she was an adorable drunk, but the way she was swaying, barely able to stand on her own two feet, there was no knowing how long she could hold on to that bottle in her hand. The last thing he needed was for her to drop that thing and shatter it into a thousand tiny, razor sharp pieces on his floor.

Making use of her distraction as she cracked herself up, he reached out and took the bottle from her, and deposited it safely on the console to his right. She didn't seem to mind; in fact, she appeared to have something else to turn her attention to now.

Her guffaws quieting down into a lustful smirk, she slid her eyes up and down his naked torso, and suddenly, without any preamble, she lunged at him with outstretched arms. "Come 'ere. Lemme touch you, you sexy beast."

Instinctively, he shot out a hand and braced it on her forehead, arm extended and locked, to prevent her drunken, grabby little hands from making contact with his body. She flailed, trying to push closer, but to no avail. He did, after all, have excellent reach.

"Dammit, Garrus," she whined, "dontcha want me?"

"Yeah. I do," he said, deflecting a sneak attack from the side. "But not like this. You've had too much to drink, you don't know what you're doing, and I'm not going to take advantage of—"

Shepard suddenly stood back, almost making him fall forward, and folded her arms in front of her chest. Scowling, she blew a loose strand of hair out of her face. "So, watcha wanna do?"

"Right now, I just want to sleep. You should, too."

Shepard's lips stretched into a grin, and before Garrus could even blink an eye, she darted around him and made a beeline to his cot. "Okay."

Garrus heaved out a frustrated sigh as he turned around and watched her plop down on his bed. "Come on, Shepard, you know what I meant."

Instead of a reply, she patted the space next to her.

Garrus cast his gaze up at the ceiling in exasperation before he began to pace, desperately trying not to look at her long, bare legs, or the intriguing shape of her collarbone, or the little bit of skin showing at her waist below the hem of her top. "Look, Shepard, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted. I _have_ been thinking about us, and how we would, you know…" He stopped, rubbing the plates on his forehead, wondering if she could see the blush creeping up his neck. "I've done some research, and I think we could make it work. And it could be good. Very good. For both of us. But… not like this. You're my friend—my best friend, dammit, and I'm not going to jeopardize what we have by making our first time a drunken roll in the sack. And I don't think that's what you would want either."

There was no answer, and he stopped, taking a deep breath, and finally looked back at her. She lay sprawled out on his cot, dead to the world, one leg still on the floor, one arm hanging down over the side.

"Great." He walked over to his bed and stared down at her sleeping form, wondering what in spirits' name he was supposed to do now. Should he just let her sleep? Should he pick her up and carry her up to her cabin? What if there were crewmen out there; what would they think if they saw him lug the body of their drunken, barely dressed, unconscious commander through the mess like that?

No, that would just not do. He'd let her sleep for a couple of hours, then wake her up and send her on her way. She should be pretty sober by then; with her metabolism, she was always the first one to shake off the effects of their visits to the local bars when on shore leave.

Feeling better about the situation now, he bent down to lift her leg onto the bed to make her more comfortable. She didn't move, letting him position her body, but as soon as he attempted to straighten up and step back, her arms were around his neck.

"Hold me, Garrush," she mumbled in her sleep, tightening her grip when he tried to pry her hands off.

Garrus let out a sigh. Damn, she was stubborn even when unconscious.

Shaking his head, he pushed her towards the wall to make room for himself, and slid in next to her. It was going to be hell, lying in bed with her like this, but he might as well try to get a little sleep himself.

She moaned softly as she burrowed into his arms and held him tight, and Garrus couldn't stop himself from inhaling her scent, a mixture of soap, gun oil, and alcohol, and running a hand down her back as he closed his eyes and tried to drift off.

Maybe she was right. To hell with waiting. Next time they had shore leave, he was going to buy the best wine he could afford and go up to her cabin and then, _and_ _then_ , they could finally make use of his impressive reach and her admirable flexibility.


	3. Happy Valentine's Day, Garrus!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this on Valentine's Day; just a little ficlet about a Shakarian Valentine.
> 
> Thank you for the comments on the last chapter, and to my wonderful beta, Suilven, for beta reading. :)

"You like it?" Garrus asks, trying not to laugh at the brown, sticky stuff smeared around Shepard's mouth and coating most of her fingers.

"Mmmm," she replies, eyes shining brighter than he's seen in a long time, her lips pulling into an enthusiastic smile. She plucks another piece of chocolate from the fancy, heart shaped box and bites into it, licking up the amber juice spilling out in thick rivulets onto her hand. Her gaze drifts down from Garrus's blue eyes onto the fluffy teddy bear with the tiny sniper rifle in its paws, and her smile widens into a grin. "You?"

He looks down at the ridiculous, plush little thing, and caresses the embroidery stitched across its chest. _I Heart Garrus._ "I love it."

She chuckles, nods her head at the toy. "You gonna sleep with it?"

Garrus feigns to consider the notion for a moment before his mandibles flick out in a grin of his own. He drawls, his subvocals rumbling softly, "As adorable as this little fellow is, I'd much rather sleep with the ship's captain."

Shepard scoots closer on the couch, her legs, propped up on the short coffee table in front of them, touching the turian's bony knees now. "You know, I happen to know her. I could put a good word in for you. "

Garrus's eyes snap to her lips as they wrap around a sticky finger, drawing it into her mouth, her tongue swirling around the tip as she slowly, deliberately licks the chocolate off. He swallows, his plates already loosening at the memory of what those lips can do, and his rumble deepens, takes on that slight growl he knows will send a jolt of heat to her core. "I would be very… _very_ grateful if you did."

She laughs and tilts her head, resting it on his shoulder. "As soon as I've finished my candy."

Garrus lets out a sigh. It's all theatrics, of course, his defeated thrum betrayed by his hand drifting over to her thigh and slowly shifting up its length. "Next time, I'm buying a smaller box."

He can feel her shiver beneath the pads of his fingers, and he smirks, mandibles fluttering in self-satisfied amusement when her feet drop down from the table and she stands up, wiping the messy residue of her sweet snack on her pants. "On second thought, the candy can wait."

She reaches for his hand and pulls him up, and he leaves the bear and obeys her silent order, as he _almost always_ does, following her as she drags him towards her bed. They stop at the foot of the mattress, and as tank top and tunic fall away and land in a limp pile on the floor, he presses his forehead against hers, her skin smooth and warm, and rumbles, eyes closed, his heart hammering loudly in his chest, "Of all the human holidays, I think this is my favorite, by far."

"Mine, too. Happy Valentine's Day," she says, smiling, before she takes firm hold of his shoulders and tackles him onto the bed.

The human chocolate on her lips tastes strange, but Garrus doesn't mind.

Forget the toy animal and the fancy dinner they didn't get to have. This is the real gift; this is what matters: that, for once, she's happy and relaxed, that she's his, and he's the one who gets to hold her in his arms.


	4. Fate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was for a "What If" ask for any of my fics by wakeupshep on Tumblr, and I decided to write it for Field Training. So, if you haven't read that story, this might not make much sense. But if you've read Field Training (or at least the first chapter), then I hope you'll enjoy this one. :)

"Spectre Kryik?" Shepard asked, extending her hand to the tall turian standing at the foot of the stairs below the Council Chambers. "I'm Commander Shepard. I was told to meet you here for my Spectre training."

The turian's mandibles flared out in a smile, and Shepard's eyes snapped to his sharp teeth, almost missing the hand he offered in return. "Commander," he said warmly, grabbing her forgotten appendage and shaking it with unbridled enthusiasm. "Glad you made it. Glad _I_ made it. Just came in last night. You almost got someone else for your mentor."

Shepard dropped her arm as soon as he'd released her from his grasp, and flicked an imaginary speck of dust off of her thigh. "Oh. I… didn't know that. So, uh, are we ready to go?"

"Almost. Just need to talk to the Council first. Get our mission and official send-off." He glanced up the stairs and tipped his head at a salarian descending the steps. "Bau."

The salarian returned his greeting with a nod. "Spectre Kryik." His large eyes drifted over to Shepard, giving her an inscrutable look.

"Commander."

His tone was friendly, but he didn't wait for a reply. He walked off, followed by a large turian in blue armor. Shepard's eyes narrowed as she recognized that mod-snatching dick from the bar.

_"Human,"_ he said as he brushed past her, giving her that infuriating smirk that, despite her best intentions of remaining calm, set her blood boiling again.

_"Asshole,"_ she replied with a sneer. The turian chuckled and strolled off, and Shepard, yet again, was left fuming in his wake.

Nihlus raised a brow plate. "What was that about?"

Shepard rubbed the back of her neck. She'd forgotten all about her new mentor. Well, this was just bloody fantastic. Great first impression she must have made. "I... had a run-in with him yesterday. Nothing major. Just... really annoying. Sorry about that."

The Spectre's reaction was not exactly what she would have expected. First he chortled, then he laughed, then he clapped her on the shoulder. "Then it's a good thing I arrived when I did. If I hadn't, you'd be walking off with Jondum Bau and Garrus Vakarian right now. Bau was going to take both of you on at the same time if I hadn't made it by this morning."

Shepard's jaw dropped as she stared at the amused turian. "Well, all I can say is... _thank god_ that didn't happen. That, without a doubt, would have been the end of my Spectre candidacy. I don't think the Council would have been happy if I'd killed my teammate."

Nihlus laughed, even louder this time. "Yes. That would have been quite unfortunate. Come on, let's get this talk over with. I'm looking forward to starting our first mission, Commander."

He headed up the stairs, and Shepard followed him, shaking her head at the mere thought of she and that jerk being on the same team and working together.

She didn't exactly count herself as a lucky person, but this time, she couldn't thank the universe enough for saving her the aggravation of having to put up with that… Garrus Vakarian.

As if they could ever work together. _Yeah, right._


	5. Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this for a prompt by biggestdisappointmentinwarfare on Tumblr. The prompt was to describe myself as though I was introducing a character in a story.

"Hey."

Garrus looked up from the files he'd been studying for the last two hours about the robbery at the volus ambassador's apartment to find his partner's butt sliding onto the right corner of his desk, the only surface free from his computer terminal and the assorted datapads he'd collected about the case. He growled, not bothering to reign in his annoyed subharmonics, and pushed Hammond off with the barrel of his unloaded gun. "What do you want?"

Hammond straightened himself for a moment, then promptly flattened his palms on the desk and leaned closer. Garrus sighed.

"Garrus, old buddy," the man whispered, "what do you think of our new recruit?"

"Which one?"

"Monique. Pale face, brown eyes, long black hair?"

Garrus's eyes flitted over to the other side of the room. Oh. Her. "She's okay, I guess. Quiet. A bit scatterbrained sometimes."

Hammond huffed out an amused chuckle. "Yeah." He scratched the back of his neck, glanced over his shoulder, then leaned even closer. "I'm thinking of asking her out. Could you, uh, go over and find out if she'd be open to the idea? Maybe this evening?"

Garrus's brow plates shot up in confusion. "Why ask me? Never pegged you for the bashful kind."

"I'm not, but she likes you, and she ignores me as much as she can. Just… say a few good words for me, will ya?"

Garrus craned his neck to take a better look at the human female. She glanced up from her computer screen, locked eyes with him for a second, then quickly looked away, her face suddenly much more pink than before. Hmm. Interesting.

With a sigh, he slowly stood up and patted his partner on the shoulder. "All right. Just this once."

"Thanks, buddy." Hammond shot him a grateful grin, and watched as Garrus walked over to the woman, all swagger and self-confidence, until he came to stand by Monique's desk and began to talk. After that, it was like watching two shy nerds trying to make conversation, glancing at each other, then looking away, then smiling, and laughing, and talking some more.

By the time Garrus came back, Hammond could barely contain himself. "So?" he asked as soon as the turian had stopped by his side and started gathering up his files.

"Well," Garrus said, doing anything he could to avoid looking at his partner, "she's open to going out this evening."

Hammond grinned. "Great! Thanks bu—"

Garrus raised a hand. "Not with you. With me. Like you said, she likes me. _Really_ likes me."

Hammond's jaw dropped. "What?"

Garrus clapped him on the shoulder, his mandibles flicking out in a grin of his own. "Sorry, pal. Better luck next time."

He shoved the datapads in his drawer and walked back to the human female's desk. "Ready?"

She nodded, picked up her bag, and gave him an enthusiastic smile. "I've been ready ever since I came to work here and saw you."

On their way out, Monique beamed at Hammond and gave him a wink. "Thanks for sending him over. Appreciate it."


End file.
